County Executive Office

Welcome from David Boesch, Placer County CEO

Placer County is a scenic, historic, and vibrant community, stretching from the breathtaking vistas of Lake Tahoe down through the verdant foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the lush Sacramento Valley. Home to the Western States Endurance Run, and host to the 2013 Ironman Lake Tahoe triathlon, Placer County offers many activities to its residents and visitors including rafting, wine tasting, fine dining, shopping, hiking, and discovering Placer County’s fascinating Gold Rush history at one of our 6 museums. Our County is financially sound, with a strong infrastructure and a fiscally conservative Board of Supervisors.

About Placer County

Placer County was created in 1851, just two years after the discovery of gold brought thousands of 49ers across the Sierra in search of fortune. The county took its name from the Spanish word for sand and gravel deposits that contain gold. Today, Placer County has more than 320,000 residents, and a county government with more than 20 departments and approximately 3,000 employees. County government touches the lives of residents in many ways, whether they live in local cities or unincorporated areas.

Placer County has five incorporated cities- Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Auburn and Colfax- and an incorporated town, Loomis. Each is responsible for providing municipal services that typically include police, fire protection, road construction, parks, and land-use planning. The county provides many of these same municipal services for residents who live in unincorporated areas as diverse as Granite Bay, the foothills beyond Auburn and the high Sierra communities of North Lake Tahoe.

The county also offers many services that cities do not and makes them available to everyone in the county, including people who live within cities. Many health services fall into that category, as do restaurant inspections, aid to needy families, support for veterans, child-support services, child protective services and child abuse prevention.

The role of CEO

The County Executive Officer is the chief administrative officer of the County. Appointed by the Board, the County Executive is responsible to the Board of Supervisors for the proper and efficient administration of the affairs of the County as prescribed in the County Charter and by formal action of the Board.

Subject to Board confirmation, the CEO selects all appointive department heads, with the exception of the County Counsel (Board appointee) and the Personnel Director (Civil Service Commission appointee). Voters choose six elected officials: Assessor, Auditor-Controller, County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar, District Attorney, Sheriff-Coroner-Marshall and Treasurer-Tax Collector.

More about David Boesch

David Boesch began as County Executive Officer in June 2012. Prior to coming to Placer County, he most recently served as the county officer for San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area. He earned degrees in urban planning and public administration, and worked in community and economic development in New Hampshire before heading for California where he served as a department head in Sunnyvale, city manager in Menlo Park and then county manager in San Mateo County.

He enjoys working at the local government level because it makes a difference in the lives of residents on a daily basis. County government has always been particularly appealing to him because it provides a broad range of services that impact the health, safety and well-being of residents.

As Placer County’s CEO, my top priority is providing leadership and using my experience to help the County build upon the strong foundation already in place. I believe Placer County has done an outstanding job handling the challenges created by the economic slowdown and state budget crisis. I will work to keep costs and revenue in balance, complete projects that have been deferred because of budget constraints, and continue promoting a stronger County and more innovative organization that provides high-quality services and has a clear vision of the future.

Highlighted Executive Office Initiatives

Economic Development: As the economy gradually emerges from the recession, the County is partnering with local and regional efforts to promote business investment and job growth.

Priority Based Budgeting: A phased implementation approach focusing on increasing public communication and transparency, and prioritizing services and programs based on results and within the sustainable level of ongoing funding and resources.

Employee Engagement: Excellent and innovative service delivery relies upon employees that are highly motivated and connected with the residents and communities we proudly serve.

Mission Statement

Support and implement Board policies and priorities, provide organizational direction and leadership, coordinate strategic and regional planning efforts, and foster efficient and effective management of county workforce and activities. Provide emergency response capability, disaster recovery and response, public safety and fire protection.

The County Executive Office in Tahoe is tasked with developing and managing an annual contract with the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association for the provision of tourism-related services. The contract calls for implementation of annual marketing plans, visitor information services, and development of recommendations to the county on transit and other visitor-serving infrastructure projects. The contract is funded with a portion of the Transient Occupancy Tax collected in eastern Placer County.

In addition, the Tahoe office manages projects, programs and other issues with external agencies in the Tahoe area. This includes regular interface with local government elected officials and key staff, as well as those with state, federal and regional agencies, such as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency(TRPA).

The County Executive Office in Tahoe is currently overseeing a partnership with TRPA on significant public outreach and development of TRPA’s 20-year Regional Plan update. Placer County, through the Tahoe CEO, is engaged with TRPA on the more broad regional planning components, but is also leading a community-specific public input effort called Place-Based Planning. Through multiple community vision sessions last summer, residents were able to share their vision for maintaining community character as the Regional Plan is implemented. The sessions are documented at http://www.regionalplanningpartners.com. This information will not only inform the Regional Plan, but is being utilized to create criteria for Demonstration Projects—downtown infill projects that will implement the community vision and are catalysts for significant environmental, quality of life and economic improvements.